1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to stabilization and locking devices for a tremolo or vibrato pitch manipulation system for a stringed instrument including, for purposes of illustration but not for purposes of limitation, those instruments in the lute family of instruments and also including for purposes of further examples the acoustic guitar, balalaika, banjo, cithara, cithern, electric guitar, gittern, guitar, mandolin, samisen, semi-acoustic guitar, ukulele, zither, modified violin, fiddle, rebec, piano, harp, dulcimer, harpsichord, cembalo, spinet, clavichord, and related string instruments.
2. Description of Related Art
For as long as stringed instruments have existed, designers, manufacturers, performers, and composers have sought to innovate the means by which the sound can be artistically varied during performances. Over the centuries, various means have been adopted and incorporated into such stringed instruments to enhance and modify the sound producing capabilities of the instruments. Many such stringed instruments are fabricated to include a generally elongated body strung with a number of gut, nylon, and or metal strings fixed to a bridge and tailpiece mounted on a sound board at one end and to tuning screws at an opposite end, and with pitch adjusting frets therebetween. In acoustic stringed instruments, a sound hole is generally placed close to the strings and near the bridge and tail piece so that sound vibrations from the strings resonate into a hollow body formed beneath the sound board. Thus, the sound vibrations are transmitted into the hollow body both through the sound hole and through the sound board mounted bridge.
In the 1930s, American manufacturers and musicians expanded the repertoire of stringed instruments and developed electric guitars and other electrically augmented stringed instruments, which matured generally into instruments that replaced the generally hollow and resonating body of the instrument with a solid body so as to minimize electrical feedback of the resonating sound. In place of the hollow body, the electric guitar, among other instruments was then fitted with electrically activated pickups that are placed on the sound board beneath the strings, and which convert the sound energy of the resonating strings into electrical impulses that are then amplified and electrically manipulated during performances.
As the electric guitar and other electrically-augmented string instrument designs matured, additional technologies were incorporated and included, among others, tremolo, trill, and vibrato effects. What has traditionally become known in the electric guitar and related instrument industries as a tremulous, vibrato, and or tremolo effect, is induced in a number of various ways that can include modifications made to the tuning screws, frets, fingerboards, sound board, and bridge and tail piece assembly.
In the most commonly employed tremolo and vibrato effects, especially in electric guitar applications, the integral and or separate bridge and tail piece are often modified wherein one or both pieces are adapted to be movable so as to adjust the length of the tuned strings during performances, which thereby variably adjusts the pitch and tone of the sounds produced by the vibrating and resonating strings. The bridge or tailpiece, or combined bridge-tailpiece is typically modified to incorporate a tremolo actuation handle or bar, which is commonly referred to by those in the field simply as a tremolo bar or trem-bar. During actuation of the tremolo or vibrato effect, the performer manipulates the tremolo bar that operates to rock the bridge or tail piece or combined unit about the pivot or fulcrum member to variably shorten or lengthen the strings, which thereby changes the string tension and adjusts the pitch or tone of the sounds of the notes played on the resonating strings. This tremolo effect and or movable bridge-tailpiece assembly is often collectively also referred to by those skilled in the art as a “tremolo block” or “trem-block,” which is used in context to distinguish from the tremolo actuation bar, trem-bar, or handle described with similar language hereinabove.
The bridge and or tailpiece, or integral tremolo block is/are further modified so that a portion thereof extends into a recess of the solid body of the guitar, and to project across a pivot or fulcrum member so as to establish a lever action in the modified bridge assembly or tremolo block. On the opposite side of the pivot or fulcrum member, the bridge or trem-block is attached to one or more biasing members, elements, or return springs (compression or tension) that are adapted to operate in a number of possible configurations.
In one possible configuration, the biasing members are compression or tension springs that are adapted, in their unactuated position, to fix the position of the bridge or trem-block, and to urge the bridge or trem-block into an at rest or equilibrium orientation against a surface of the instrument whereby the strings will be balanced in tension, across the bridge or tail piece assembly, and against the spring force to produce unmodified notes and sounds as established during tuning of each string. In this configuration where the trem-block is urged against a surface of the instrument, the musician typically can only actuate the tremolo effect assembly to either raise or to lower the pitch or tone of the notes played on the strings, but not both.
In the more commonly practiced and more modern tremolo effect assemblies, the bridge or trem-block is adapted to be actuated so that the performer can both raise or lower the pitch or tone of the notes played on the strings, which is commonly referred to by performers as “bending” the notes. In this arrangement, the bridge and springs are configured so as to position the tremolo block or movable bridge in a substantially centered, equilibrium position whereby the tension established by the tuned strings of the instrument is balanced against the tension (or in certain configurations the compression) of the tremolo springs.
In this instant configuration, the performer actuates the tremolo bar or handle to bend the played notes, that is, to raise or lower the pitch or tone of the played note of the strings, by effectively increasing or decreasing the length of the strings while a passage is played. Various embodiments of tremolo effect assemblies are known to those skilled in the art and some are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,457,201 and 4,487,100 to Storey; U.S. Pat. No. 4,171,661 to Rose; U.S. Pat. No. 4,709,612 to Wilkinson; U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,025 to Steinberger; U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,448 to Hennessey; U.S. Pat. No. 5,522,298 to Schaller et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,225 to Sherman; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,190 to Wolff et al, which are each hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. As can be appreciated by those having skill in the relevant arts, the tremolo effect assemblies described here rely on the balance between the force exerted by the properly tuned strings and the force imparted by the tremolo springs. If a string or a spring becomes detached or is broken, the instrument becomes unusable until the forces are rebalanced either by retuning and or retensioning the remaining strings and or springs, or by replacement of the unserviceable string or spring.
When a tremolo effect assembly is incorporated into the design of a stringed instrument, it has been found advantageous to also include a releasable locking mechanism that can be engaged to lock the tremolo effect assembly into a preferred position. In some embodiments, the tremolo locking mechanism is adapted to lock the strings into an alternative pitch or tone position, which operates much like the more commonly used capo devices that adjust the string octaves along the fingerboards or frets of guitar-like string instruments. In other embodiments, the tremolo effect assembly is locked into a neutral or unactuated position that prevents inadvertent or unwanted tremolo actuation during performance of a passage that does not require use of the tremolo effect assembly. In many of such locking mechanism embodiments, it is noted that the locking feature can render the instrument usable at least in partial performance modes of operation because in the event that a string or spring breaks or becomes otherwise unserviceable, the tremolo effect assembly can be locked in a position that renders the strings usable with perhaps only a slight adjustment, if any is needed.
Many attempts have been made in the prior art to achieve a satisfactory tremolo effect assembly locking device. Some tremolo assembly locking devices that have been attempted by others are described in, among other patents, U.S. Pat. No. 4,697,493 to Ralston; U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,375 to Saijo; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,986,192 to Wingfield et al. One or more of these and other references have observed and explained that the most desirable locking devices should not impede the performance capabilities and playability of the stringed instrument to which the contemplated devices are attached. However, each such locking device demonstrates many shortcomings that do not effectively overcome the stated goals and objectives and conceded problems set forth in the prior art references of record.
More particularly, it has been observed that a tremolo effect assembly locking mechanism, whether engaged or disengaged, should not interfere with the performance capability, i.e. playability, of the stringed instrument. Some of the devices contemplated in the prior art are directed to locking mechanisms that can only be mounted to the front of the sound board of the instrument, which requires substantial modifications to original equipment as delivered from the manufacturer. Other devices are limited to custom fabricated bridge assemblies that establish the desired tremolo effect, which requires expensive, and often prohibitively costly, redesign of existing assemblies. In all such proposed and contemplated tremolo effect locking devices, what has been missing and long-needed is a tremolo assembly or movable bridge assembly or tremolo block locking mechanism that not only incorporates the benefits of the prior art devices, but which also overcomes the problems in the art in a way that is compatible for use with any number of stringed instruments.
Even more specifically, what is needed is a locking mechanism for a tremolo block or movable bridge assembly that can be used by any stringed instrument musician and that does not require modification of the instrument and which does not require custom-manufactured instruments to be factory-made to include the inventive tremolo locking device. That is, the preferred inventive device must be compatible for use with legacy stringed instruments in a way that not only avoids the need for modifications to the target instrument, but which also does not impede the playability or the appearance thereof.
To restate this long-felt but unaddressed problem with prior art locking devices, what has long been missing in the stringed instrument industry, is a tremolo block locking device that is compatible for use with the widest range of industry standard tremolo effect assemblies, including the standard return springs, and other components, and which can be implemented by those having only ordinary skill in the performing arts without modifications to the target stringed instrument. Among other needs and problems, it is an especially important need in the field of stringed instruments, including, for example, electric guitars, to avoid any modifications to the factory delivered instrument or the instrument that has accumulated substantial acclaim and or nostalgic value by virtue its having been fabricated by an acclaimed artisan, or by virtue of its use in an acclaimed performance or use by a famous musical artist or use on a specific date of importance.
In any such circumstances the instruments can acquire significant economic and sentimental value to their owners, which weighs against any modifications to the instruments. With the known prior art locking mechanisms of record here, if the locking mechanism is compatible for use with industry standard instruments, modifications to the instrument are usually required before the lock can be used. However, in view of the preceding considerations, modifications are likely to diminish the value of the instrument. Even so, the instrument owner often finds that it is extremely desirable to perform musical passages on such instruments, and many such passages often incorporate or require tremolo and or vibrato effects for a performance that matches, mimics, or tracks that of the original performer or author.
With these considerations in mind, those skilled in the arts may be able to comprehend that it is often desirable to incorporate a locking device for a tremolo effect or a movable bridge assembly that can be installed without modifications to the original instrument and in a configuration that does not detract from the appearance of the instrument, which does not add undesirable weight to the instrument, and which does not affect playability during performances. Additionally, it is desirable to incorporate a tremolo effect locking device that is quickly and easily engaged and disengaged by the musician's hand during and or between performances in a way that does not impair or detract from the performance. The ideal device would also be capable of simplified removal, replacement, and modification without substantial effort and by lay individuals as well as accomplished technicians and performers. Accordingly, the instant invention accomplishes these and other goals and objectives in new and novel ways that overcome the problems and shortcomings in the prior art locking devices for tremolo effect moving bridge assemblies.
The present invention meets these and other needs and is perhaps the most widely-compatible and most easily adapted and installed tremolo assembly locking device ever devised. The releasable locking device according to the principles of the instant invention accomplishes these and other objectives with most industry standard stringed instruments and especially acoustic and electric guitars and related instruments, whether customer manufactured or mass-produced, and the inventive device does not add any significant costs or increased difficulties in the manufacture or use thereof.